Your remaining medical flexible spending account (FSA) balance could help cover eye care you have been putting off. At Dry Eye Center of Alabama, we encourage patients in Vestavia and the Birmingham area to review their benefits before December. Planning now leaves time to schedule recommended care and understand what your account can reimburse.

Dry, irritated eyes can make everyday activities uncomfortable, especially when symptoms persist despite using artificial tears. One common cause of chronic dry eye is blocked meibomian glands, which prevent the eyes from receiving the oils needed for a stable tear film. At Dry Eye Center of Alabama, we offer LipiFlow thermal pulsation therapy in Vestavia, AL, to help restore healthy oil flow and improve tear quality.

Friday night football is a fall tradition in Vestavia Hills, but spending hours under stadium lights can be less enjoyable when your contact lenses start feeling dry, gritty, or uncomfortable. Outdoor air, extended lens wear, allergies, and dry eye can all contribute to contact lens discomfort. If your contacts consistently bother you during games or other evening activities, the problem may not simply be your lenses. An eye care evaluation can help us determine what is contributing to your symptoms and identify ways to improve your comfort.

Artificial tears can be helpful when your eyes occasionally feel dry, but constantly reaching for drops may not be enough when the underlying problem involves your eyelid oil glands. Meibomian gland dysfunction, or MGD, is a common contributor to evaporative dry eye and can cause burning, grittiness, redness, fluctuating vision, and persistent irritation.

Watery eyes can seem like the opposite of dry eye, but the two often go together. During Alabama’s mid-summer heat, many patients notice burning, stinging, redness, blurry vision, and excessive tearing. If your eyes keep watering but still feel dry or irritated, evaporative dry eye may be part of the problem.

Many people assume humid weather should help dry eyes, but Birmingham summers can still make symptoms worse. Even when the air feels heavy, your tear film can become unstable due to heat, allergens, sweat, sunscreen, air conditioning, and long days outdoors.

School vision screenings can be a useful first step in identifying children who may have trouble seeing clearly at a distance. They are often quick, simple, and designed to flag possible concerns that may affect learning in the classroom. However, a screening is not the same as a comprehensive eye exam.

Choosing the right eyeglass frames is not just about style - it is also about comfort, function, and how your glasses fit into your daily life. The best frames should complement your features, support your vision needs, and feel comfortable whether you wear them at work, at home, or on the go. At Dry Eye Center of Alabama and Family Eye Care, we help patients in the Birmingham area find eyewear that fits their face, lifestyle, and personal style.

Dry eye syndrome is not always just about a lack of tears. In many cases, it is tied to inflammation and meibomian gland dysfunction, which affects the oily layer of the tear film. When that layer is unstable, tears evaporate too quickly and symptoms like burning, irritation, blurry vision, and redness can become more frequent.

For many people living with chronic dry eye, symptoms such as burning, irritation, fluctuating vision, and eyelid tenderness can significantly affect daily life. One of the most common causes of these symptoms is meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). At Dry Eye Center of Alabama and Family Eye Care, our dry eye specialists use advanced diagnostics and targeted treatments, including meibomian gland probing, to help patients find lasting relief.